Gasoline

Trump Reverses Obama With Fuel Economy Review

March 15, 2017
• by Staff

Photo via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia.

Vowing to end the "assault on the American auto industry," President Donald Trump promised to reopen a federal review of fuel economy standards that was concluded in the waning days of the Obama administration at an event outside of Detroit.

During a 19-minute speech to automotive executives, workers, and the media, Trump also urged automakers to build more assembly plants in the U.S. Trump spoke outside of Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti Township.

"So we're here not simply to honor the past, but to devote ourselves to a new future of American automotive leadership," Trump said. "We want to be the car capital of the world again."

Trump saluted Ford, General Motors, and Fiat-Chrysler for recent announcements of new jobs and expansions of U.S.-based manufacturing. General Motors announced it would add or retain another 900 jobs in U.S. plants in the next 12 months ahead of Trump's speech.

Trump said he would help automakers reduce regulations that might cause automotive manufactuing to move outside of the U.S.

"We are setting up a task force in every federal agency to identify and remove any regulation that undermines American auto production and any other kind of production, including the production of high-end, low-end, big, small, every form of automobile and truck," Trump said.

Trump said the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Transportation will reopen a review of escalating, strict fuel economy standards that require automakers to reach 54.5 mpg across their lineups by 2025. The Obama EPA finialized the mid-term review of those standards a week ahead of Trump's inauguration.

The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in December fell to 25 mpg — down 0.2 mpg from a revised November value, according to Brandon Schoettle and Michael Sivak, researchers from the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

The national average price of unleaded gasoline jumped 5 cents to $2.49 per gallon in the first week of 2018 and has reached a level not seen since 2014 during the week that starts the new year, according to AAA.

China is setting a deadline for automakers to end the sale of fossil-fuel powered vehicles as the country looks to reduce oil consumption and pollution and push for the development of electric vehicles. Regulators are working on a timetable for the ban.